Expert: Maria - 11/28/2005

Question
I have a friend who would like to translate the following english phrase into latin:

"If you want peace prepare for war."

If you could translate this into latin I would be very grateful, thank you very much.
Regards,
Roy

Answer
Hello,

Actually the English sentence "If you want peace prepare for war" is nothing else but the translation of a Latin quotation from Vegetius, a Roman military expert [fl. c.385-400AD], who  is the author of a military treatise, "Rei militaris instituta", also called "Epitoma rei militaris”(i.e."Summary of military matters"), which is an important source of information about the Roman military system.

This quotation is:
“Si vis pacem, para bellum” which means exactly :“If you want peace prepare for war".

In fact:
-If = SI
-You want= VIS
-Peace= PACEM
-Prepare= PARA
-For war= BELLUM

Best regards,
Maria